The Bethadilly 52 – A Weekly Photography Challenge

December 12, 2016

#thebethadillychallenge 365 photography challenge has taken over instagram and is now one of the most popular photography challenges that is inspiring photographers to take control of their photography and improve their photography skill, one day and photo at a time. to continue inspiring photographers to pick up their camera to document their lives and perfect their technical skill, i am excited to introduce the bethadilly 52, a weekly photography challenge that only requires photographers to take one photo per week over the course of one year. let’s get started!

The Bethadilly 52

if you are a little intimidated at the idea of taking on a 365 photography project or if you’ve already completed a 365 photography project and are ready for a new and fresh project, the bethadilly 52 is for you! starting january 1st, 2017, we will take one photo per week together over the course of the year. that’s only one photo a week and, with 52 weeks in a year, you are guaranteed to pick up your camera 52 times to take 52 images, while being introduced to a wide variety of photography techniques.

and i am so excited to help you do it. the goal of the bethadilly 52 is for you to really think about your photography this year and improve your skill. your weekly prompt word will challenge you and make you think. it will encourage you to be creative and to really think about your photos. my goal is for you to really improve how you take photos and to encourage you to think about each picture you take. i don’t want your photo to be rushed, i really want you to take the week to really improve your skill with each prompt.

whether you take your weekly photo right away or wait a couple days, that’s totally up to you! some photo prompts will be easy for you, while other weekly prompts may make you think and practice. the goal is for you to take one really good photo, that you are happy with, each week. it may require you to practice a little before you take that final photo that you are completely happy with, and that’s okay! as you practice, know you are learning. and learning makes you a better photographer.

once you are happy with your photo, share it with us on instagram using the hashtag #thebethadilly52. using this hashtag will link your images up with our community and allow you to participate and network with other photographers who are taking on the bethadilly 52 challenge too!

while below you will find all 52 weekly prompt words, this project is to be completed one week at a time. to be successful with this project, only work on the current week’s prompt word and focus your time on mastering each skill one week at a time. taking pictures ahead of time for other weeks distracts you from the current week’s prompt and distracts you from focusing on the current photo. give yourself the grace of time and spend the entire week focusing on the weekly skill, before moving ahead. you will be amazed at the progress you will make with your photography when you dedicate 7 whole days to each photography skill. we have all year to complete this list and the goal is to work on it one week at a time.

need help organizing your project 52? check out what planner i will be using this year to write my weekly prompts in to help organize my photography project! being organized and efficient is half the battle of being successful with a photography project.

The Bethadilly 52 Prompt list is exclusive to www.bethadilly.com. Copying or posting this prompt list is strictly prohibited.

The Bethadilly 52 Weekly Prompt List

week 1. documentary

week 2. candid

week 3. your style

week 4. depth

week 5. exposure

week 6. from above

week 7. love

week 8. movement

week 9. black + white

week 10. self portraiture

week 11. emotion

week 12. shadows

week 13. balance

week 14. free choice

week 15. bokeh

week 16. connection

week 17. framing

week 18. lifestyle

week 19. perspective

week 20. motherhood

week 21. landscape

week 22. reflection

week 23. negative space

week 24. creative blur

week 25. fatherhood

week 26. street photography

week 27. patriotism

week 28. texture

week 29. portraiture

week 30. macro

week 31. leading lines

week 32. posed

week 33. free choice

week 34. repetition

week 35. rule of thirds

week 36. sunburst

week 37. faceless

week 38. natural light

week 39. everyday

week 40. backlit

week 41. still life

week 42. the golden hour

week 43. clarity

week 44. moody

week 45. post processing

week 46. silhouettes

week 47. on your table

week 48. low light

week 49. creative composition

week 50. inspiration

week 51. low angle

week 52. joy

need some photography tips + inspiration? check out what posts are trending below!

Jenelle -I’m pretty excited about this. I was planning on doing a 52 challenge and I’m excited that you have created this challenge! Will you be doing a weekly blog post regarding the photography style of the week? For example week one is documentary. Will you be sharing what makes a photo documentary photography? And is week 15 a typo?

{beth} a-dilly-Happy to have you joining in! Yes, each week there were be a blog post to accompany the prompt. Week 15 is not a typo, bokeh is a photography skill that we will chat about that week!ReplyCancel

Meghan -Would love to join…am having trouble signing up as says email is not valid. I even tried different email with same message. Am I doing something wrong?ReplyCancel

{beth} a-dilly-Hello Meghan! Sorry you were having trouble subscribing to my list, I think it may have been glitching yesterday as there were so many people trying to sign up at once. You may feel free to try again today, or in a different web browser, or email me at beth@bethadillyphotography.com and I can try and sign you up too!ReplyCancel

JB Whelchel-Looking forward to some needed motivation! “Work” photography can drain creative juices, so I need some personal projects again. I tried some daily challenges recently but got frustrated when I couldn’t keep up, so the weekly challenge is perfect.ReplyCancel

Ashley -Thanks for changing it up next year. The one picture a day was a bit too much for me. I don’t have that kind of free time (unless it’s 9:00 at night and the kids are in bed and it’s dark outside. hahaha!) Once a week, I think I can do!ReplyCancel

Detta -Very excited to be joining you. I took this past year off to regroup a bit but but before that I did a project 52 4 straight years on Flickr. I am looking forward to getting used to instagram. I havent done any networking or following except for family. Will you be giving any instagram tips on ways to navigate and see what everyone else is doing?ReplyCancel

{beth} a-dilly-hello detta! so happy you will be joining us! i won’t be giving any further tips, but you will simply use the hashtag #thebethadilly52 on your instagram images in order for your images to link up to the community. by clicking on that hashtag, you can see other images posted by others. enjoy!ReplyCancel

Grace-Hi Beth! I would like to take part in the 52 week challenge. I am already on your mailing list but have not noticed posts specific to the weekly challenge. Is there a separate mailing list that I should sign up for?ReplyCancel

{beth} a-dilly-Hello Grace! I am so happy you are joining in the 52 project with us! I only have one list, so if you are receiving weekly email from me, you are good to go! I don’t specifically name the emails for the 52, but on Sunday’s the email is based on the prompt! Have fun!ReplyCancel

Darin Beard-What if I am late to the party and I’ve missed the first three weeks? Should I try to catch up or start where you are? Thanks!ReplyCancel

{beth} a-dilly-Welcome! You can do whichever you would like. I would say, since we are so early in the project, you could easily catch up! But if you want to make this week Week 1 and go from there, that’s great too!ReplyCancel

52 WEEK PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE | WEEK ONE | ALEXIS RALSTON PHOTOGRAPHY | LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHER » Alexis Ralston | Southern California |-[…] i decided this year that i would challenge myself with a 52-week photography project. i needed something that would encourage me to bring my camera out more at home and with activities we do as a family rather than collecting dust unless i was out at a shoot. i realized that a 365 project was not for me in this season of life. maybe one day i can commit myself to completing one. i’m already failing miserably at the 52- week challenge but, better late than never, right?! it’s not too late to challenge yourselves to do something similar! in fact, you can find the challenge prompt list from bethadilly photography right here. […]ReplyCancel

DEPTH-[…] in The Bethadilly Blog’s photo challenges. And while I’m a little bit late to join the #TheBethadilly52 party this year, I figure better late than never, right? She published a photo prompt list last […]ReplyCancel

FROM ABOVE-[…] up this week with another #TheBethailly52 challenge post. This week’s theme, From Above, was a fun one. The rose photo above is […]ReplyCancel

p52 {2017} | week 1 » quietfootsteps-[…] you’d like a deeper explanation of what a Project 52 is or a weekly prompt, you can check out Bethadilly Photography. She already has the entire year planned, special access to blog posts if you sign up, and […]ReplyCancel

EXPOSURE-[…] back again with a late night post, trying to squeeze in some shots for this week’s #TheBethadilly52 photo prompt, Exposure. I had really hoped that we would get lucky this week + have some bright, […]ReplyCancel

BLACK + WHITE || TALES OF TAEKWONDO-[…] these photos in black + white for two reasons. The first is because b+w was last week’s #TheBethadiily52 photo prompt, but it’s also because I think b+w photos have a certain seriousness to them. […]ReplyCancel

Catie -Hey, I am new to photography and the idea of a photo challenge. Do you recommend starting at the beginning or the week that you are currently on? Thanks 🙂 ReplyCancel

{beth} a-dilly-welcome, catie! you are welcome to do either, but I would recommend starting on the week we are working on so you can relate and build community with the other photographers who are working on the same week as you!ReplyCancel